12
A M P L E :
Obvious examples are brass sounds (TP028). Here the ini-
tial ‘tearing’ at the sound’s pitch delivers the right feel. Ide-
ally this change in pitch should be as inconspicuous as
possible, but there is of course a time and place for drastic
pitch envelope surgery to produce those classic ‘pitch warp’
effects, like sound TP029. Tip: when using two VCOs, try
setting the first oscillator’s PEG to a positive value, and the
second oscillators PEG to a negative one – after all, variety is
the spice of life!
Have you ever attempted to program certain drum sounds
or special effects using synthesizer waveforms? Or how
about using the pitch envelope to transpose a multi-sample?
Let’s take a look at some examples.
A M P L E :
Take a boring sinewave and combine it with a simple PEG
envelope, and hey presto – instant E-toms (TP030)! Another
popular trick when using sample ROM synthesizers is the
transposition of entire multi-samples – using the pitch enve-
lope!
Transposing a Layer up or down this way by 12
semitones can completely change the basic character of a
sound. Transposing down can lure Mellotron-like sounds
from your CS1x – for an example try the string sound TP031,
which can be enhanced still further by the use of filters or the
effects. Shifting this sound’s pitch upward however will pro-
duce a harmonically richer tone (TP004/005).
It’s just as easy and simple to conjure up impressive
slide effects (TP032), a useful addition to any synth bass
sound.
Helper Motors – the LFOs
The Low Frequency Oscillator or LFO is a special kind of
oscillator. Unlike VCOs, the LFOs frequency range is roughly
between 0,1 and 100Hz. Of course the frequencies aren’t
used for audio signals, but rather as controlling signals to
modulate the VCO, VCF or VCA sound components. The
CS1x calls these LFO modulation types PMOD, FMOD and
AMOD.
A synthesizer, just like the human voice, violin, trumpet and
many other acoustic instruments, seems ‘cold’ without the
use of some vibrato. To illustrate, select the aforementioned
pad sound (TP023): although enriched by the detuning of its
two VCOs it still doesn’t appear as ‘alive’ as would be desir-
able for a successful pad sound.
Pitch LFO to the rescue. This little devil can be used to
subtly modulate the pitch of a sound, thereby making it seem
more ‘alive’ – much like the natural vibration of the human
voice.
To achieve this effect, use a consistent waveform like the
triangle wave. Differing speeds and intensities are also use-
ful; both VCO’s LFO values should never be identical. It gen-
erally pays to offset parameters a little against each other,
not just where LFOs are concerned – this gives synthetic
sounds life. Our string pad (TP033) also gains ‘depth’ from
this treatment. In some cases you may even avoid the need
for post-chorusing altogether. Any sounds used for solo
work should use a slightly delayed Pitch LFO, i.e. Vibrato.
This can best be demonstrated with a simple synthesizer
sound (TP034). Here the Material voice used is already pro-
grammed to delay the LFO so that the Vibrato is less abrupt.
Just as much fun can be had with the random Sam-
ple&Hold waveform (TP036). The short melodic phrases
that this waveform can produce have many uses beyond the
obvious lead sounds or imaginative sound collages. An LFO
with a square waveform can also be used to generate little
sequencer-like phrases, such as fifth or whole octave pitch
jumps. Dig deeper in the CS1x’s bag of tricks though and you
will find the ingenious arpeggiator, which will produce stylish
rhythmic musical phrases for you. After all, the overworked
LFO needs a rest now and then!
PERIMENT:
You may have stumbled across some sounds in the User
bank that at first sound like a simple arpeggiator pattern. A
quick glance to the display however reveals that the Arpeg-
giator is inactive. Here are the sounds in question
”Sq:Cyborg” and ”Fx:SinCrony” We have modified both
these performances a little – you can find them in the Tuto-
rial Bank (TP036/037). Your task is to re-activate the LFOs
(AMOD and FMOD). You will find that the LFO modulation
used in this sound plays an very important role.
Completely different sound impressions can be derived
from use of the Filter LFO. Well-known wah-wah effects can
be achieved when using this component to affect a resonat-
ing filter’s Cutoff Frequency. The triangle wave is the obvious
waveform to use here. Start out by using a slow LFO speed
(TP038) – you can always tweak it later. An ‘impulsive’ mod-
ulation is desirable when quick chord changes are in order,
but lingering pad sounds prefer a more gentle LFO move-
ment. The fun really starts though with the sawtooth wave-
form, which will generate rhythmic filter movement just
perfect for a sequenced arrangement. The Filter LFO with the
sawtooth wave can also be used to ‘chop up’ filter sweeps (a
la TP039). Great fun, and not just for our young techno gen-
eration.
Let’s press on: the CS1x LFO can also manipulate ampli-
tude (i.e. volume) as well as filter and pitch. This LFO, known
as Amplitude LFO or ”LFO Amod”, is primarily used for
Tremolo effects. Just so you don’t get lost in the drudgery of
grey theory, here’s another little exercise:
PERIMENT:
Dial-up Performance TP040; a guitar sound which can be
made more interesting by applying tremolo effects. To do
this, call the Amplitude LFO for both Layers into action
(simultaneous edit). The modulation value shouldn’t exceed
+05. You may want to control when the tremolo effect is
applied, rather than have it on all the time. In this case reset
the modulation value back to 0. Now set (say) Assign2 to
control LFO-Amplitude-Modulation. Oh, by the way, we’ve
already done this for you, try playing with Knob6. Now you
can freely add tremolo effects to your guitar sound whenever
you want.
Are you getting familiar with the amplitude LFO? A little
further experimentation should give you an even better idea
how and when it can be used. First in line for treatment are
strings and other pad sounds (TP041). Here too natural
sounding and consistent volume changes are achieved with
the triangle waveform. The sawtooth in contrast produces
more distinctive rhythmic patterns (TP042) which tend to be
more ornate, however, than the comparative LFO Filter mod-
ulation.
Question: what’s even better than a LFO? Answer: two
LFOs! The CS1x though has only a single LFO. How can we
solve this?
PERIMENT:
Simply combine two Layers when you want to play with
two LFOs. Offsetting the speeds of the two LFOs can yield
surprising results. Try doubling/halving the speed of the first
LFO, or vice versa. Panning each VCO hard left and right